Numerous devices have been invented to keep ordinary shoelaces on a shoe from untying. One early example is U.S. Pat. No. 819,884, which was designed to secure the laces without having to fully knot them. The laces were merely looped over two ribs on a base to assume the appearance of a typical bow knot, and the hinged cover was then depressed over the laces to hold them in place. Increasingly more elaborate and costly designs were invented in more recent years, as typified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,290,745 and 4,805,270. The latter patent additionally provided a character face or design on the outside surface. These patented inventions were clamped down over and concealed the knot from view. However, modern shoelaces, and particularly those on children's shoes, come in a variety of materials, thicknesses and widths. Children frequently interchange shoelaces on the same shoes to coordinate colors with their outfits or moods. Therefore, the devices which clamp down upon and conceal ordinary shoelace knots may not be sufficiently flexible to accommodate the more sizeable shoelace knots of the modern shoelaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,293 takes a different approach. It discloses a device with a pair of spaced elastic bands which engage the knot on opposing sides and expose it for view. A body portion provides a space for decorative design. But this construction is susceptible to the well-known propensity of elastic bands to break or snap. Also, the exposed knot detracts aesthetically from the decorative design. Thus, there is a need for a device which is relatively simple in construction, sufficiently flexible to accommodate the different knots of modern shoelaces, and reliable to operate.